Wassail
Ingredients
2 apples seeded, cored and quartered
2 Tbsp tupelo honey
¼ orange peel with pith
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
2 C warm water
Preparation
Put all in a high speed blender (Blendtec), enjoy this hot. This makes quite a bit. Cut it in half and it serves two with a wee bit leftover for seconds.
The origin of wassail.
In the year 800, England was invaded by Danish Vikings who, for a brief period, took over all of England. Eventually they were pushed all the way back up into the northernmost portion of England, a place called The Danelaw because up there the Danes had autonomy and made their own laws and spoke Danish. The Danegeld was a tax collected from all the English citizens, and this money was paid to the Danes in exchange for them not invading England further. The Danelaw consisted of three counties: County Durham, Westmoreland, and Northumberland.
These Danish Vikings had a favorite wintertime drink consisting of mulled hot apple cider, and when they drank a cupful, they gave a salute,
“was heil! ( or to your health!).”
Over the centuries this drink became popular throughout England. Eventually the term
Ves Heil! changed to Was Hail! (to which someone replied Drink Hail!). And the drink became known as wassail.
